


It was your choice

by Duender



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Gen, Infidelity, M/M, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duender/pseuds/Duender
Summary: In a restless heart, the seed of betrayal lays.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Comments: 10
Kudos: 128





	It was your choice

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift for a very dear friend!! I hope you like it <3

"I cheated."

Harry stares down at his hands. "...I know."

He hears him shuffle. "I'll be leaving."

Green eyes glance at the suitcase by the man's side, already packed. "Okay."

Slight hesitation. "I - I am sorry it has to end this way."

"....thank you."

The door of the apartment creaks open ominously. Ice blue eyes glance back at him. "Goodbye, Harry."

_Thud._

"Happy birthday, Tom," Harry whispers into the cold air and empty house.

It was no easy feet to bake a three layer cake all by himself, but Harry was nothing if not determined. Tom was still not back from his 'business' trip, and probably wouldn't be for another couple of hours, and so he had time before it was Tom's birthday.

Memories from six months prior hit him hard, and he tried not to let his tears fall into the batter he was whipping up. This time, there was no extra cocoa powder being tipped into his cake and messing up his proportions.

It was black forest, Tom's favourite. He worked as fast and efficiently as he could, preparing the fondant and meticulously ensuring that every single detail on the cake was perfect. It was well into the afternoon by the time Harry was finally done with the cake and set it on the dining table, but Tom was still not back.

Harry stared at the black TV screen blankly. It was his 'lover's' birthday, and he had thought he would have one last chance to see Tom, before -

As minutes slipped by and hours ticked by, the apartment remained empty save for him. Harry sighed. He had known this was going to happen; why was he so upset? And as the hands of the clock moved closer and closer to a New Year, he let a lone tear trickle down his cheek.

New Years' Eve was the day it ended.

* * *

Harry stepped into the cozy bungalow and let out a tinkling laugh when he was immediately surrounded by redheads and warm hugs. 

"Move over, you lot!" Molly Weasley's voice sounded over the cacophony of the Burrow, and then he was receiving the Weasley matriarch's signature motherly hug. It took quite a bit of effort to not break down and cry into her shoulder like he had done many, many times in the past, but it was a happy occasion and he did not want to put a downer on his pseudo-family; not when his problems were nothing they should be burdened with.

When the door clicked shut behind him, Molly pulled away and held him at arms' length. "Tom?" she asked with a searching gaze. 

Smile firmly pasted onto his face, Harry shook his head. "Business," he said, and if his voice trembled a little, nobody commented on it, chalking it up to the fact that he was just missing the bloke. 

Business indeed. Probably at a fancy resort, with the company of the Black beauty. Harry's eyes stung, and suddenly Ron was by his side, throwing an arm over his shoulder and leading him into the living room and to the evergreen tree in the corner for him to leave his presents at. And surrounded by laughter and love, Harry tried to get his mind off his wayward lover.

* * *

Harry watched from the bed as Tom got dressed, pulling on one of his thicker blazers to ward off the November chills. 

"Are you sure you have to go to work today?" he asked with a pout, ignoring the warmth that ignited his veins when amused blue eyes looked his way.

"You already know the answer, Harry," Tom Riddle huffed as he walked over to grab his phone from the bedside table. Harry swallowed when he caught a whiff of something - a flowery perfume that was definitely not something either of them owned.

Tom had worn the same blazer to work the previous day.

In a moment of impulse, Harry lunged forward and grasped one of Tom's larger hands with his own. The man raised an eyebrow but let his fingers slot around Harry's with practiced ease. 

"Please don't leave," Harry begged, not caring if he looked particularly 'plebian' at the moment.

Tom tugged his hand away, this time a little less amused. "Harry, you know I have work."

"Please don't leave me."

Tom paused in the doorway of their bedroom. Harry wondered, for a moment, if they were possibly going to be okay-

"Honestly, Harry. I'll see you later."

The distinct lack of reassurances haunted him for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Hey mom, dad." Harry set down the bouquet of lilies he had brought along. "I - I was going to introduce you to someone, but he's, umm, he couldn't make it tonight. I know it's Samhain, but his work doesn't give him a moment's break." He let out a wet laugh. Tom could probably take a break whenever he wanted, not even his 'boss' would stop him. Besides, everyone knew who really ran the company.

"Umm, but don't hate him too much, please? I mean... she's probably much more beautiful, and has much more to offer than a little broken orphan boy. And, maybe it's just once. He probably needed a break from me. I - I might have been too clingy."

"He'll apologize. I think. He usually never apologizes, you know? But he says I'm different. Dunno if he meant about him finding someone else or about his behaviour with me but... he'll mean it, if he apologizes, won't he?" 

Desperation laced his voice. "I love him. He - he _is_ good to me, despite what everyone thinks. He just, needs someone to tell him right from wrong. He's an orphan too, you know? He never had anybody. I had the Weasley's to teach me. Maybe - maybe he just didn't know."

Harry left soon after. The caretaker at the gate of the graveyard watched him leave with sad, knowing eyes.

* * *

"Toooom," Harry laughed as Tom continued to trace patterns on the back of his hand. "I need to go! The professor can't be late on his first day of class."

Tom huffed and released his hand. "If you must," he grumbled, but the twinkle in his eye told Harry that he wasn't really upset. Harry grinned - his boyfriend was adorable.

He leaned over the center console, aiming to kiss Tom, when the latter's phone suddenly dinged with a notification. Huffing at the ruined moment, Harry backed away a bit, watching as blue eyes quickly scanned over the screen.

"A kiss?" he asked hopefully after Tom put his phone away.

"I'm sorry, Harry, something urgent came up at work."

Harry watched the silver Audi drive away from the sidewalk. Work messages started coming along with heart emojis, hmm?

* * *

Harry sighed as he put away Tom's dinner into the fridge for him to heat up later when he came back home for the third time that week. He glanced at the clock - it was ridiculously late. 

Tom had started staying late at work, and while he wouldn't admitted it, Harry was worried for his workaholic of a partner. It couldn't be healthy! Not to mention that the man stayed up late working at home anyways. 

He had half a mind to ring up Tom's boss and let the silver-bearded fool know just how annoyed he was with him, but he did not want to be responsible for Tom losing his job or having to deal with an even bigger issue at work. 

Harry checked his phone. There were no new messages. Sighing, Harry headed to the bedroom, wishing Tom would at least let him know when he was going to be home late.

* * *

"Nooooo!" Harry shoved Tom away. "You can't add more cocoa powder in, you walnut! It'll mess with the proportions. I already measured everything else out!"

Tom continued to prowl around the batter bowl, cocoa container held in his hand. "But you can't go wrong with more chocolate," he reasoned, holding out the box with his eyes wide and pleading.

Harry chuckled as he continued to whisk, bowl shielded from Tom's advances with his body. "Tom, there's a reason I'm the cook in this house."

"Which I think is still stupid. Why on earth are you baking your own birthday cake?! I would have ordered you an amazing one from that bakery you really like."

"Are you saying my cakes are not amazing?!"

Tom floundered. "W-what? No, Harry, I just-"

Harry giggled as he watched Tom Riddle stammer out an excuse. "I'm kidding. Besides, this is for Neville too."

"Ugh, you and your sentiments," Tom grumbled as he finally put away the cocoa. 

Harry fluttered his eyelashes up at the taller man. "You don't like my sentiments?" he asked with a small pout, which gave way to laughter a second later when Tom rolled his eyes heavenward and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like 'Save me from minxes'.

* * *

"They aren't going to eat you, you know?" Harry tried to reassure Tom as he led him down a well worn path, to the small bungalow he had called home before. And still did, except he was a sentimental sap who believed that home was now wherever Tom was.

"They are your family, Harry," Tom said, visibly uncomfortable. 

"Exactly. And they're going to love you. Molly loves everyone she meets, and her approval is the only one you need in this house." 

Harry's words had never been truer. Molly had greeted Tom with an enthusiastic hug, before letting her brood begin their interrogation while she prepared dinner. And Tom, being who he was, had managed to charm almost everyone (Ginny still didn't seem to be over her crush) and Harry had been extremely content as he watched Tom argue politics with Percy and chemistry with the twins, looking as at home as anybody else. 

Except for the shovel talks. Receiving six of them couldn't have been pleasant, but Tom braved through them all, despite his nerves. Though he did drag Harry away and out as soon as he could.

* * *

Harry couldn't hold in his gasp as he looked around. The restaurant was completely empty, save for the staff, and a path lined by candles was the only illumination in the place. He followed it to the balcony, and couldn't hold in his tears when he saw Tom standing in the moon and candlelight with the largest bouquet of flowers he had ever seen. 

They had been lilies, for his mother, and not the traditional roses that he was not very fond of.

Harry's tears turned into laughter as Tom panicked about his date crying.

"Did I do something wrong?! Harry, please, I can not deal with tears, you know that!"

Harry dabbed away at said tears with a blinding smile. "Calm down, you emotionally inept twat."

Tom didn't even bother looking offended at that. "It's not going to be a regular occurrence, is it?" he asked warily, after a few moments of silence.

Harry snorted and shook his head, amusement making his lips twitch as Tom let out a relieved sigh.

The dinner was lovely, but the dance that followed after was even more so.

Harry and Tom danced well into the night, the stars above them twinkling with a brightness that seemed to be fueled by their love.

* * *

"Why, hello there, darling."

Harry glanced up from his drink to look at the handsome stranger before him. He blinked when he realized he didn't recognize the man. "Uh, hello. How did you manage to get in? It's a private party," he asked, a little wary but mostly curious.

The arrogant smirk melted away into a bashful smile. "I may or may not have cheated," the stranger said. "I told the guard I was the surprise for the guest of honour."

Harry snorted into his drink, before breaking out into loud laughter. 

It started on a New Year's eve.


End file.
